Plains of Glory
by I-IRONMAN-I
Summary: (Multi-crossover) After his betrayal, the Gryllian Imperium will do whatever necessary to hunt down the notorious Kholo. Now, Kholo runs rampant again in search of another Forerunner artifact. However, there is something much more sinister at work and his actions will carry much more weight in the end.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: The universes involved in this story belong to their concurrent owners. Original content belongs to me or another person that may own a part of it.**

**The following universes that are planned to be involved in this novel:**

**Halo**

**Battlestar Galactica**

**Aliens vs Predators**

**Mass Effect**

**Star Wars**

**Star Trek**

**If any content relating to certain part of lore seems way off, it is like that on purpose. This story's canon is part of a role-playing group I am part of, and thus runs on a different plotline. ****If you do not understand certain elements within this novel, please put your question in your review and I will answer when I can.** Please give feedback.

**Enjoy reading :)**

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_**Prologue**_

**0326 HOURS, JUNE 28, 2571 (MILITARY CALENDAR)\**

**MAGNUS VIRTUS SYSTEM, BIMACULUS**

The plains were a somber gold with new greens of spring grasses arising, fresh and anew. The skies were blue and thin white clouds stretched across like overlapping stitches. Slivers of heat were rising in the distance, but this was normal of the temperature to be like this during the mid-afternoon.

Giant wasps buzzed across fallen logs to return to a nearby tree so that they may build their homes. Massive dragonflies zipped through the air to catch and devour prey. Large cattle with spikes protruding from their spins and horns from their heads grazed the fields of dry grass. Distant mountains hovered over the trees from afar. They were brown and green and had white peaks with their great height. Clouds of white, thicker than those over the fields of gold, passed around the peaks. Far above, higher than the clouds, two crescents glowed in the afternoon sky from the sunlight of three stars sitting beyond them. This was a truly interesting system, a ternary star system. Three stars and two moons above, there was a great peacefulness that resided on this field.

However, the peace was short lived. The peace was ended when an explosion rocked the soil and tore dirt and grass from the ground. A bolt of blue stretched across and struck a six-legged silver machine that returned a larger red bolt. Explosions ripped into the terrain and two forces met.

One side consisted of Gryllians, and great monsters they looked. They were nearly completely covered in armor, some more than others. Their four legs allowed them to traverse quickly and leap great lengths. They were seven feet tall or even more than that. They had cylindrical bodies and bore deadly clawed hands on each arm. Their helmets glowed at the eyes, mostly blue.

Several hulking machines like the six-legged one marched across, firing red-hot plasma across the field of bleeding soldiers to their enemies, the Legio Mechanicae. These machine-men were also nearly as huge as the Gryllians, or even larger than so. They were human, or the remnants of Humanity which had been mechanized. They were brutish and powerful and their greater ranks could annihilate a Spartan three and four.

More explosions tore into the landscape, following by whines and whizzes of explosive rounds or plasma. Flying machines raced across the sky and littered it with ammunition and smoke. Metal rained from the sky as a Gryllian Interceptor Cruiser, over a kilometer long and with a wedged bow, ripped into the atmosphere with a trail of smoke and fire followed. It smashed into a mountain and exploded, destroying the land around it and turning it into a fiery blackness.

Gryllisus's eyes snapped open in terror as he looked across a similar field, though this field had more mountains in its background. He was remembering a battle from long ago. It resulted in the destruction of the planet and its atmosphere. He remembered the field especially. The field held the highest death count on the ground. He nicknamed it the Field of Blood and it went down as part of one of the largest engagements to occur during the Gryllian and Legio War.

He looked up at the sky and saw only two stars and then spotted the only moon of the planet. He did this to reassure himself. The Legio Mechanicae was one of the only enemies to actually truly him.

His eyes shut again as he meditated in his spot on the flat, cool rock. His mind was completely blank and held together by the sounds of life around him. Here, too, there were giant dragonfly-like insects. Though these flying arthropods were also domesticated and keep as pets by Gryllians. They were also dangerous and could tear apart its prey with ease.

Several hours passed as he enjoyed his break from the business of ruling an empire before he was interrupted by one of his messengers. He could sense him as he approached his meditating form.

"What news do you bring me, Tabellus?" The meditating Gryllian droned.

"I bring bad news, it is of Kholo."

With that, the large Gryllian opened his eyes and looked across the field. His eyes held a sorrow and anger that was directed not to the messenger, but to the subject of the news. Most rulers would have killed the messenger for bringing bad news, but Gryllians praised news that was good or bad. Knowledge and common sense was power to them.

He felt a pang in his heart as he remembered his brother from the memory of a time long ago. Kholo, to him, was misguided and searched for something that didn't offer what he thought. Kholo sought salvation from the Forerunners, who he had managed to set up cult to worship and do whatever possible to gain from the long lost civilization.

The Gryllian emperor rose up from the ground and nodded to the courier. They left to the shuttle that rested several miles away and after an hour, they reached it. They set off from the Fields of Meditation and headed back to the capital city of Bimaculus, the capital world of the Gryllian Imperium, Primus.

Primus was huge and rested between and on two mountain ranges. There were platforms that rested on the sides of the mountains themselves. High above, also a part of Primus, were the great sky towers. They acted as atmospheric filters that kept pollution down to nothing and as aerial cities.

The great capital city held tall skyscrapers and great aerial pathways between buildings. Railways curved about the city and linked districts to districts. He enjoyed the view out of the window of the transport. The transport traveled underneath a bridge connecting the peaks of two huge skyscrapers. Eventually, the transport beheld a massive tower, wide at the base where there were other structures and railways. It then ran up like a pyramid and eventually turned into two pillars that ran up into the air until they merged once more at the peak.

The transport vessel hovered higher until it reached a platform jutting out from the main pillar. The vehicle grounded itself and gravity locks held it in place as Gryllisus and his courier left for the main room. They boarded a gondola to travel to the central hub, and when they reached it they took through several more halls and eventually found themselves in a huge, atrium-like room. In the center laid a holographic table that currently showed the Milky Way galaxy. Off to the sides, there were enormous windows that let in large amounts of the comforting sunlight. Above, chandeliers dangled and ribbons of light swirled and flexed around each crystal and stretched between each glamorous decoration. At the far end, there was a great desk with many holograph images and other pieces of décor.

They passed by multiple columns to reach the table and they both took the time to turn and admire the view of the city that was far below. Behind them, the door ringed and pulsed and opened as a group of Gryllians entered the room.

"Greetings brothers." Gryllisus welcomed the entering beings.

After some time exchanging salutations, they settled down on hover chairs that came out from the base of the central holographic table. They looked about as a smaller, holographic Gryllian appeared before them upon the table. It was covered in thick armor and, despite the very armor it wore, was helmet-less. It acknowledged the council before him with a courteous nod.

This was Superious, the Gryllian Imperium's finest discovery. It was a Forerunner-class AI that, rather than pledging its allegiance to Humanity, turned to the Gryllians as its master. It was an artifact that was discovered on a Forerunner installation that was upon a nearby world. However, despite the fact that it was a Forerunner ancilla, it was amnesiac, unfortunately for the Gryllians. Though, may it have had lost much memory, it was still very powerful and did recall some of the Forerunner era, especially the darkest times before the cleansing of the Flood.

"As you are aware, the traitor known as Kholo has been discovered." Superious stopped for a moment, anticipation building. "He has been discovered at the planet, Glory."

Much chatter commenced and Gryllisus could not help himself to become frozen in distraught. Hours earlier, he was remembering the battle. Now, he was more than likely going to visit the place that was devoid of known life. Even now, old derelict ships orbited the planet and one of its wrecked moons continued ripping itself apart slowly in its orbit. Much of the surface of the planet were scars now. That was mainly due to the magnetic accelerator siege cannons that were forced to destroy the Legio forces that were concentrated on one of its continents.

"How shall we engage this?" Gryllisus inquired.

"Currently, he has vessels orbiting a station over its only intact moon. I presume that he has found something very important on the planet, or moon. More than likely, they have found an artifact belonging to that of my creators." The ancilla responded.

"I suggest we send in a fleet and wipe them out. The execution would have to occur at close range, meaning we'll be going in headfirst. It'll be quick and deadly. Perhaps we'll stow our friends, the Colonials, along." Kronos suggested.

Kronos was the closest friend of Gryllisus. They fought together for over a thousand years, ever since their escape of the Legio Mechanicae's biological research world, BEW-719. The memory of the planet was capable of making all of the members of the Immortal Council shutter. From there on, Kronos remained to be Gryllisus's second-in-command and Supreme Lord of Admirals and greatest friend.

"That's another situation. Earlier, Kholo had attacked a Colonial station not too long ago. They will want to come along. The plan that you suggest would be best followed. Kholo's Cult fleets are not as powerful, and they use older variants of our weaponry." Superious informed, following Krono's suggestion.

"Then that path we shall follow." One member accepted.

"And I as well." Another followed suit.

Soon, the suggestion was accepted and the threatening feelings of Kholo had diminished. Of course, Gryllisus himself was worried. Kholo never let himself out in the open like this. Usually, he kept to small skirmishes and acts of piracy. There was something important about that place and Gryllisus felt that he knew. His treacherous brother must have found a Forerunner artifact and this artifact had to have been powerful in some sense.


	2. Chapter I: Kholo

**Hey all! Not much to say here, for now. Anywho, just to let you readers know, I appreciate that you (may have) read the prologue. I give my thanks to those who have followed and favorited this as well! I'll continuously edit to improve content for you.**

**Please leave feedback if you can. If you've got questions, ask away :)**

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_**Chapter I: Kholo**_

**2218 HOURS, JUNE 27, 2571 (MILITARY CALENDAR)\**

**KCSC VESSEL HERCULES, STADOL SYSTEM NEAR KOBOLIAN PLANET**

A fleet of battlestars, which are large capital type vessels with a large fore section that was shaped like the head of an alligator, a midsection that held the fighter docking wings, and a rear section that held the faster-than-light drives and engines, were floating in deep space. This was a patrol fleet, but one of readiness, as there were a total of twenty-five battlestars. Though, these battlestars differed in size along with their class. With the end of the First Galactic War, the battlestars had been changed. They were swiftly upgraded and equipped with energy shielding and new weapons, alongside with upscaling. These vessels were refitted to use magnetic accelerator cannons, which seemed to be becoming a trend among blocky vessels.

The largest of these ships in this fleet was a newer type of battlestar, greater in size than the older variations. Its name was the _Hercules_. It was a Hammerhead-class battlestar, primarily for its fore section that was wider than that of the other classes. The reason for this wideness was for the fitting of two magnetic accelerators. This vessel was the largest of its battlegroup, sitting at five kilometers in length. It held a larger fighter compliment with its dual hanger bays that sat atop of each other. The engines, though, were sleeker and there were only four large propulsion drives, like that of the Mercury-classes.

"Sir, we've a problem." One of the Hercules's helmsmen called.

"What is it?" A voice returned, belonging to that of Darian.

Darian was a fleet commander verging on vice admiral. He was tall, broad, and muscular. He held a square jaw and sported a graying goatee. He had experienced a great war that earned him his rank. This great war that that earned him the title of fleet commander was the First Galactic War. He served under admiral Adama during the time and he had watched ONI and the Empire fall.

The First Galactic War era was a time where ONI had allied and combined itself with the Galactic Empire, so it was called. While ONI seemed numbered with the UNSC as its military, the Galactic Empire was innumerable. They brought in supplies and ships that bolstered the UNSC's industries, allowing for more ships to be produced at frightening speeds. The Empire, though, was more frightful than that of the UNSC in consideration of military might. They brought vessels of large sizes in large quantities. But ONI was more frightful, for it managed to bend the military of the Galactic Empire to its will.

The war looked grim from the start, as not even the dozen or so empires that surrounded the enemy alliance seemed to stand a chance against their might. However, the tides of war turned when a group of saboteurs joined against them. These so called criminals, or even pirates by some, had done much to change the tides. They managed to cripple ONI in the many times before and during the final battle, killing its leader and causing the organization to dissipate into the shadows. The Gryllians knew who these people were, as their leader had participated with them. Darian could never understand why such a leader would join side by side with those people, or things. He didn't have an exact definition to apply to them. He had heard that sanity was rare aboard that freighter they used.

His old gray eyes scanned the monitor in front of the helmsmen with a dismayed expression. It revealed a transmission calling for reinforcements. "Probably those damned Xenomorphs." He growled.

The Xenomorphs, intelligent and ever more dangerous than their feral cousins, originated from a backwater planet called Mersh. It was a barren world that had a beacon that made the planet read as too dangerous to explore. But, the very pirates who helped end ONI, by ignoring the beacon and finding out that the planet was actually harmless, accidently released the inhabitants within a temple.

These Xenomorphs, once like their regular acidic cousins, were experimented on by the Protheans as to produce a bio weapon. However, the experiment turned into something unfavorable and had gone awry, causing the Protheans to abandon the planet. But the Protheans had, as earlier stated, set up a beacon that would keep the Xenomorphs from being found by any explorers with any sense of self-preservation.

But what was done was done and it was currently impossible to change the past. Darian would just have to deal with the Xenomorphs as if they were, and they were, pests. It would not be too difficult to decimate their fleets after a majority of them left to the fringes of the galaxy and into the Magellanic Clouds after their devastation from a civil war. It would no doubt to him take many years before the fleeing Xenomorphs would reach the closest Magellanic Cloud.

"Hail the vice admiral, I must alert him of something that is afoot." Darian said as he was heading to the communications officer.

"Good evening, Darian." The vice admiral spoke, his voice cold as he was rigid. This man had not only experienced the previous war, but wars before even that.

"Good evening, Vice Admiral Lassiter. I've received a transmission requesting reinforcements. It appears that the Xenomorph remnants are attacking a station several light-years close. It is a civilian station in the Capula System." Darian informed, but with a certain assertive tone. He would go to their aid, no matter what. It was his duty and the vice admiral had acknowledged this in some manner.

"The Capula System? That's right along the outer colonies of Milky Way Galactic Alliance territory, close to the outer fringes. It's one of our colonies." The vice admiral furrowed his brows and his frown contorted to express anger. "I want you answer that call and remove the Xenomorph threat. Don't let any of them escape and if possible, be sure to capture some of them. I want answers out of those things."

"Yes, sir." Darian nodded. The COMMs were cut and the fleet commander ordered for the plot to be coursed.

The venture to the star system did not take long. The system was a mere thirty or so light years away from them. It only took a minute or so for them to reach it. Once they had entered the star system, Darian began ordering weapons and DRADIS, a series of highly sensitive detection, identification, navigation and tracking systems used to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects, systems to be online. He didn't want to be caught off guard.

"Sir, I'm detecting over a hundred Xenomorph vessels at the Capula colony!" A helmsman shouted from his station.

"Are these things after something?" Darian questioned rhetorically in bewilderment. He hadn't seen a congregation of Xenomorph vessels like this since the galactic war. "Engage them. Have the Valkyries jump behind the enemy lines before they open fire on us."

Valkyrie-class battlestars were half the scale of the Mercury-classes, reaching a total of a single kilometer in length. They were sleeker but still armed to the teeth. While these vessels lacked a magnetic accelerator, they made up with energy weapons and electronics.

The vessels moved forth with speed. Once they passed the planet's dark moon, the Xenomorphs acted upon detection and sent in a fleet of frigates and cruisers to attack the battlestars. The Valkyries at the front jumped just before the Xenomorph vessels fired their salvo of missiles and were behind the enemy ships. Once their systems were online, they unleashed a salvo of nuclear missiles at a determined safe distance.

The vessels that were struck were either vaporized, or critically damaged. The larger vessels stood a better chance, but their electronics were shut down by the nuclear missiles' electromagnetic pulses. The shutdown vessels simply floated and crashed into nearby allied vessels. With the disarray, the larger battlestars unleashed a swarm of missiles that furthered the demolition of the enemy fleet fragment and the ships armed with magnetic accelerators picked off the last of the vessels.

The enemies only lost a quarter of their fleet and the remainders were still fighting the Kobolian ships present by the civilian space station. Darian quickly ordered his fleet to the battle zone.

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"Shit, shit, shit!" Spat a large sinewy soldier as he charged through a large doorway. He had dark skin that indicated his African descent. This man was Harker. He was part of a squad who were fighting off the Xenomorphs that manifested themselves upon the space station.

The next man to run into the room with Harker was a man of Caucasian descent. This man was not as sinewy as Harker, but he was still a brawny man. He fired into the room he came from, killing several pistol-wielding Xenomorphs. Two other men ran inside, reloading their own pistols. One of them wiped yellow-green blood off their uniform, groaning about some kind of stench. That was another change in the Xenomorphs by their Prothean experimenters. Their blood had become neutral to compensate with their newer abilities, and thus made the blood harmless.

Several loud bangs and thuds echoed from outside the room. There was something huge wreaking havoc upon the machinery and men who were attempting to fight whatever it was off.

"It just killed James! It just crushed him against the wall, all his insides went out!" One of soldiers shouted, panic set into him. Another thud came and sounded closer. "It's coming. Close the door damn it!"

A brown-black, gold-tinted monstrous creature appeared before them down at the far end of the atrium they retreated from. Its head crest was massive like a huge plate and it was covered with layered ridges that thinned as they reached the ends of its crest. The creature lowered its head and charged. What horrified them, other than that the creature used its head to flatten things, was that it was fast.

But the door closed too fast for the creature and stopped it. The beast had no chance of smashing its way through the two meter thick titanium-A bulkhead. However, the beast kept ramming the door, and it left a considerable indentation before giving up.

The group shuddered and turned to see a massive window that gave the view of most the battle that was occurring. In the room, there were crates and catwalks and stairs along the walls. The room was a dark gray, like most of the station's rooms.

"My gods, God, and any possible omnipotent being watching over us, I hope those reinforcements are..." Hector stopped and watched as a fleet of new battlestars, spearheaded by the newest class, began attacking the main fleet of the Xenomorphs.

"About damn time." Harker sighed, his voice barely audible.

There was a loud bang that caused the entirety of the squad to spin on their heels towards the direction it came from. It was the vents, and they were denting towards the ground. One loud bang emanated from another vent and then another from the first vent that caused the covering to pop off and crash on the ground. Immediately after, the other vent cover popped off and Xenomorph warriors dropped out from both of the openings.

"Crap, run!" Hector shouted, firing at the aliens.

The Xenomorphs jumped behind the cover of crates, readying their own weaponry. Hector wasn't going to stay back and let these things kill him. His squad pushed through the nearest door and they all nearly fell over the protective railing of an extensive stairwell. Hector fired and tossed his last grenade, distracting most of the Xenomorphs while the more competent continued to fire their kinetic energy weapons.

Quickly, Hector shut the thick metal door and assessed the situation. Immediately he looked up and saw several Xenomorphs peering over, leering. With a knee-jerk reaction, he opened fire upon the observing aliens and his squad began moving downward. Scores of Xenomorphs were following down after them, taking shots when they deemed them possible.

Once they reached their desired escape, they went through and had the engineer of the team weld the door shut. Harker walked forward, taking note of the number of people that were residing in the location they reached. "We reached it."

Hector stepped next to him, observing huge hanger bay they just entered. "Alert the colonel, tell him we've made it and to avoid these areas." He handed Harker a holographic tablet.

The hanger was several stories high and each story held a compliment of Raptors and Vipers. Along the bottom of the bay were large, bulky civilian shuttles made for the purpose of getting the civilians out of the station once the situation was right for their leave.

"Hey, look!" Some civilian shouted, pointing outside of the energy wall separating the void of space from Hector. He narrowed his eyes, was a blue bolt impacted and destroyed a Xenomorph vessel.

"Gryllians?" Another questioned, watching the vessel churned and broke apart.

Indeed they were Gryllian ships. A huge cruiser passed by the remains of the Xenomorph ship, its large wedged bow glinting from the light of the suns that the planet orbited. It fired a salvo of red plasma bolts. These did not do quite the damage of the blue torpedo, but the four of them together was enough to down its shields and damage its hull. A bright white beam sliced through the dark, piercing through the damaged ship and through another with a stop. The source was a huge ship with a Y-shaped bow. The split between the two points glowed as it cooled from the shot.

Hector could only be described as bewildered at the sight of a starfighter entering the hanger bay. It was large, bulbous at the bow with wings that swept towards the rear of it. Then fear struck him like a bullet and he started, screaming for everyone to take cover.

"Run! That Ravager's not on our side!" The man shouted. "Take cover!"

The dual cannons of the space fighter glowed and fired large bolts of blue plasma, and each bolt exploded upon impacting any solid object. Hector watched the grim scene, horror written on his face as he watched as people were mercilessly killed. He spotted a pulsating ball dropping from the underside of the ship and saw it soar through the crowd of civilians and explode, scorching the floor with plasma.

The ship turned its attention to the surrounding docked ships, shooting them out of place and causing them to fall from their hooks. One Viper fell, crashing into another and that onto another. The whole column collapsed. Several turrets rose from under the floor, men taking control of them. They fired relentlessly, forcing the ravager to pull out as its energy shielding fell.

"Damn! Hector, get your squad out of h-" The colonel was cut of the intercom as the room he was in exploded. Hector's eyes widened, watching the control room in the hanger bay exploded for a second time.

The Ravager returned almost as soon as it left, but alongside it was another. The two swept the hanger with their plasma cannons and plasma bombs, leaving little to live and the rest to burn. Hector watched a man wearing a business suit come out from behind a pile of crates, panicking with his hands over his head. Hector quickly grabbed him, pulling him behind cover.

"What the hell are you doing?" Hector hissed before hearing another explosion, belonging to that of a Raptor.

"We gotta get out, w-we gotta get out! They won't let us live! They want me! We-I-They-It-Oh my God…" His words stumbled over another as he seemed to hyperventilate upon seeing something behind Hector.

Hector spun around, rifle drawn at a huge figure behind him. This figure bore a large energy blade that was impaling a man. The sword dissipated, dropping the man. "Harker!"

The huge insect-like creature sneered as Hector lunged at him. It simply swung its fist, impacting and sending Hector flying back against a wall. He walked forward towards the business man and that man backed, but was stopped by another of the creature. It secured him and slung him over its shoulder.

"Etak mir ewsa!" The man's captor pointed towards Hector.

The other monster looked at Hector with bright, angry eyes and pulled out a baton like object that began to give off electric sparks. Hector attempted to resist and get away, but the creature was faster and managed to strike him. The man fell to the ground unconscious and the creature slung him over its shoulder.

* * *

Hector woke from unconsciousness and groaned, pain coursing through his face. He opened his and horrified. He was strapped to a huge metal table. He looked over and saw the business man.

"What do they want you for?" He more yelled than asked the question.

"They want m-me for information." The man said with a voice low and scared.

"Who-What are you?" Hector narrowed his eyes.

"Tell him, Human. Tell him who you work for and whom you used to work for." A deep voice growled from the shadows beyond them.

"I'm just a Kobolian Intelligence officer! What do you want from me?" The man cried.

"You're more than just that. In fact, you're not even Kobolian. If you will not tell him, then I will." The voice grew deeper with malevolence.

"This man, whom works for your empire, is a former member of ONI. His name is Arthur Clost. His actions resulted in the deaths of over a hundred thousand civilians, and now that number is raised by the concurrent situation." The voice told.

"You son of a bitch!" Hector spat and jerked around on his table attempting to free himself, but to no avail, the metal braces would not budge.

"Now," The owner of the voice stepped out from the darkness, revealing a monstrous creature, a Gryllian. His eyes were bright green with blue tints around the pupils. This creature's eyes expressed a great ancientness. His heavily armored body told of physical power and the massive scythe upon his back displayed the deadliness of a reaper. This was Kholo, "That is quite rude to say."

"Kholo, you right bastard." Arthur said, the fear in his voice replaced with a fearless venomous hate.

"You speak with such anger and spite. I like that. Perhaps you should let me know where it is, and I'll release you so that you may hunt me down." Kholo said with apparent arrogance.

"You know that I won't just release the information like that, you stupid cricket." Arthur laughed.

"Perhaps you just need to be convinced." Kholo's voice lowered as he lifted up a canister. On it was a biohazard symbol and on it read FHIS, 'Fear and Hallucination Inducing Substance.'

"I am sure you know these types of devices very well. You apply the concave side upon the victim's skin and press the injection button," Kholo placed the concave face of the canister upon Arthur's skin and pressed a glowing green button, causing Arthur to jump and panic once more, "And then the substance enters the victim's bloodstream and heads straight for the brain. This is caused by the substance's attraction to the neurons inside your brain. Once it reaches the brain, it attaches to these neurons and starts agitating them. Once the agitation begins, a reaction causes the substance to transform into a drug that causes great fear, hallucination, and makes the victim prone to suggestion."

By the time Kholo had finished, the man watched the room transform into fire and darkness, and the Gryllian transform into a fiery, devilish monster. Kholo's voice sounded distorted and turned into multiple voices. All he could stare at were the evil, glowing blood red eyes. His eyes widened and he screamed, soiling himself in the process. Kholo merely smirked at Arthur.

Hector averted his eyes from the man and wished his ears had closed because of the man's tremendous screaming and yelling. He had never experienced this sort of torture, but from the stories he had heard about this kind of drug, he knew that Arthur was having a hellish experience. It almost made him pity the former ONI-member.

"Now, Arthur, you need to tell me where the artifact is." Kholo growled, bringing his plated face closer to the man. "Speak!"

"NO!" Arthur resisted. It seemed to both dismay and entertain Kholo, as he backed from him and crossed his arms, smirking in a fashion that fitted a Gryllian. He motioned to something inside the darkness and another smaller Gryllian brought him a crude looking device.

"I'm sure you are also familiar with this device as well." Kholo bent over, showing Arthur's fear contorted face the device. "Humans have a simple name for these things. They call them, 'nail rippers.' Now, I'm not sure if it just rips your nails apart, or rips them out. Perhaps it does both, I do not know. Either way, I'm sure that it will not be difficult to make you speak."

"Oh god, please don-AUGH!" The man jolted up and started to thrash on his table. Kholo was gripping his forefinger between the hooks of the device and Hector swiftly turned away as Kholo performed his treachery.

"I… will never speak a-AGH!" Arthur screamed and thrashed, shaking the table.

"I… won't say a… damned th-no no-AGH!" Harker flinched as he heard some sort of gruesome sound.

"So it does have a shredding setting." Hector could hear the intrigued Gryllian mutter.

"I'll speak! I'll speak, stop! Stop! God, please, stop!" Arthur yelled, his voice cracking upon the last word.

"Ah, compliance, now I do not need to wipe so much blood off the floor. Tell me where the artifact is." Kholo growled, raising the crude, bloodied device in order to emphasize the consequence if Arthur would refuse again.

"It's there, at the planet! It's the one where you fought the machine-men, the one that hosted the great battle!" The man cried.

"The planet with the wrecked moon, the one that was stripped of its life and atmosphere?" Kholo lowered his voice, his brow plates furrowing with question.

"Yes!" Arthur exclaimed.

"Glory..." Kholo said with a haunting remembrance. His aged eyes dulled with memory and his face showed sanity. It made him seem in a different light, but then his face hardened and the shine of his eyes returned. Hector could have sworn he saw the blue around Kholo's pupils disappear for a brief moment.

"Thank you for your compliance," Kholo turned from Arthur and walked away, "Execute him!"

"What? No, no! N-" Hector watched as a plasma blade jutted out from Arthur's chest. Hector eyes widened in horror and he looked around, panicking.

"My gods," Hector murmured and eyed Kholo, was was closing in on the door, "What happened? What happened to the fleet and the civilians?"

Kholo stopped and turned briefly, "They're dead. But, some will live, as we are leaving at the moment."

"Take him to the brig!" Kholo shouted as the lights of the darkness turned on and revealed several ornately armored Gryllians. The last thing Hector felt that day was a jolt of electricity that coursed through his body and knocked him unconscious.


End file.
